Cars that look ahead of their time/still look good

inlinesix

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I'll start
Mazda Eunos Cosmo (1990 btw)

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I guess you could argue "by trying to look space-age, Saturns look very of-their-time" but I'm forever floored by the final generation SC1 in silver, specifically. This car does things with the way it flows that nobody else has attempted yet and I'm sure will eventually come back around as crossovers look more and more like Martian dune buggies every year. Such a beautiful oddity.
 
Pontiac Aztek, everyone loves to hate on it but crossovers and SUVs were looking more and more like the Aztek every year for a while
(more emphasis on the "ahead of its time" part here, but i do personally like how it looks)

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also this ~2005 era of astons. i don't care what anyone says this still looks incredibly sleek. these are nearing 20 years old and still look new.
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Such a timeless design. Still looks as good in a modern setting as any other car on the road today--

Honestly, I find the current Astons already look so dated due to how heavily they are giving into modern design tropes. This though, has and will continue to age very gracefully.
 
Trying my best to not dump a bunch of Japanese cars because it would quadruple the length of my thread (i would post S15 but.. it would be a bit too biased HAH!)

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First generation Audi R8, what a stunner. Became an instant favorite of mine when it came out, and still remains in that same spot for me, especially in this silver blue/silver accent combination. So smooth, so clean, unlike their last iterations, which are so filled with edges and frills. Yuck!

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BMW E46 M3. Another clean, sophisticated design. It just screams executive to me. Of course I might be biased to viewing cars of this era as pinnacle of timeless, upper-level design, as this is what I grew up viewing as top-class, but I really do think when you see one on the road, it really demands your attention unlike anything new (especially when it comes to newer M cars..) And the interior.. So driver focused, no screens, and so, so classy.

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I mean, of course it's aged well, the Mclaren F1. But geez, ahead of it's time is an understatement. 240mph, in 1992. 1992! It hits the same speeds as modern hypercars, with only 650-something horsepower, with TWO WHEEL DRIVE.... IN 1992! And it still is so, so gorgeous. Such a perfect design. It looks more like a supercar than modern supercars, which.. again.. give way too much into modern design tropes. This will continue to be one of the best looking cars. period.

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Honestly, a perfect revival of a classic design. This first Mini revival really caught the aura of the original, while trying to set itself up to look modern today-- I mean, the newest Mini STILL looks like this, for the most part. Well, except for the fact that they aren't really.. MINI, anymore; yet the original revival generation was still SMALL! Incredible stuff. I think it looks fantastic, and remains timeless today.
 
adding some recent things I've found have held up very well.

W220 S Class, on the right wheels and in the right colour these things look INCREDIBLE and still hold that "executive large vehicle" presence that's honestly gone missing in newer cars.
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E60 5 Series, this car is still really really divisive, even I was really "meh" about its design up until like a month ago, when something just *clicked* about it and now it's one of the most beautiful sedans ever built to me. especially with the facelift headlights, they have a bit of a stare. something about bangle-era BMW's is weird, it's like they were designed to look good 20 years after release.
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shorter one, but my brother actually got one of these a few months ago and its now finally running (albeit with an oil leak) but the 3rd gen Liberty/Legacy B4 (esp with the aero kit) has also held up really well honestly. (however, the rear of the wagons is awful looking)
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I'll start with a car I don't own and then get into one that's been in my family for a while.

The Honda CR-X. Shit is so gas, even though the actual car looks exactly like how you'd expect it to being from the 80s, the aesthetics are timeless. It looked great when it was new, looks great now, and will continue to look amazing years in the future. Doesn't matter the color.CRX1.jpgCRX2.png


Now this next one is something I came around to in recent years. I was not initially a fan of it when I first saw it but over time it won my heart over. The C3 Chevrolet Corvette, specifically the 1980-1982 run. Looks straight out of Speed Racer if the US got the rights to make their own version in the late 80s. When my dad first got his 81 Vette, I was iffy on driving it around cause it was his baby. Plus, I didn't particularly care for its looks at the time. However, knowing that I'm gonna be the sole caretaker of it soon made me rethink some stuff about it. I love how different it looks now; it has a personality all of its own. It doesn't look the fanciest, nor does it scream timeless by any means, but to me I've come to my own realization that it has a special look to it, and it still holds up in my opinion.1981-chevrolet-corvette.jpgScreenshot-2017-02-21-14.00.18.png

I'll get some pictures of it next time it's out of the shop and I'll post it in an appropriate thread if one pops up (or I find one that I have overlooked.) It isn't any of the ones above, it's silver. (Also, if you saw my unfinished message here when I fat-fingered my keyboard, no you didn't.)
 
the pinnacle of 80's sport car design, in my opinion. Supra Mk3 is a platform. there are many mods of varying kinds and yet every car retains this spirit of the mk3 and you can know instantly what it is. it's just so sharp and clean and well proportioned. And we should bring back the pop-up headlights

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